1. Field of the Invention
We, David A. Lohr, William E. Kurtz, Robert H. Dorian and Fred J. Taylor have developed this invention which relates, in general, to electrical actuators for railroad cars and, more specifically, to a wayside electrical pick-up shoe for controlling a discharge of a bottom discharge railcar.
2. Prior Art
Externally activated electrical and mechanical actuators have long been utilized in railcars for actuating a variety of railcar components. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,391,255 discloses an automatic train stopping mechanism utilizing spring biased contact shoes on the railcar acting against ramp rails along the track. U.S. Pat. No. 1,504,969 also discloses a ramp shoe for a train stopping mechanism. U.S. Pat. No. 1,802,322 discloses an electrical railcar mounted actuator for operating signal lights. U.S. Pat. No. 1,342,591 discloses a street railcar mounted actuator for displaying next stop for the streetcar. Additionally, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,305,241 and 4,542,701 disclose railcar mounted actuators, or pick-up shoes, for operating discharge doors of the railcar.
Pick-up shoes for railcars have been constructed of spring biased contacts attached to a base plate which is attached to the railcar. In existing pick-up shoes of this type, it is common for the base plate to be attached to the railcar through special insulated connectors. These insulating connectors tend to deteriorate and need frequent replacement. Additionally, these insulating connectors require specially sized mounting holes. All of these factors increase the cost of existing pick-up shoes as well as the time for installing and maintaining the pick-up shoes.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art. It is another object of the present invention to provide a pick-up shoe which can be attached to the railcar using conventional attachments, such as bolts. A further object of the present invention is to provide a lightweight pick-up shoe. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a pick-up shoe which has a longer, useful life span than the prior art.